how (you can help) people learn (biology)

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

Peter Newbury, Ph.D.

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

slides and resources: tinyurl.com/HPLBiologySp13

April 29, 2013

Who Am I – Peter

How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology) 2

Peter Newbury

PhD (Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) 1998

in applied math

Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, 2008 – 2012

Associate Director, Center for Teaching Development

since August, 2012

Teaching and learning interests:

how people learn science, technology, engineering, arts, math (STEAM)

how to convince instructors to transform the way they teach

finding the most effective ways to implement peer instruction (clickers)

establishing and maintaining an online personal learning network

@polarisdotca peternewbury.org

Survey

Which of these do you associate with a typical

university lecture?

A) listening

B) absorbing

C) note-taking

D) learning

The traditional lecture is based on the

transmissionist learning model

How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology) 4 (Image by um.dentistry on flickr CC)

Let’s have a learning experience…

5 How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology)

Here is an important new number

system. Please learn it.

1 = 4 = 7 =

2 = 5 = 8 =

3 = 6 = 9 =

What is this number?

New Number System

Here’s the structure of the “tic-tac-toe” code:

What is this number?

Scientifically Outdated, a Known Failure

10 How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology)

We must abandon the tabula rasa

“blank slate” and “students as

empty vessels” models of teaching

and learning.

Constructivist Theory of Learning

New learning is built on and from existing knowledge.

You store things in long term memory through a set of connections that are made with previous existing memories.

(Images by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)

Creating memories (aka learning) involves having neurons fire and neurons link up in networks or patterns.

What are the patterns of

how people learn?

How do we use them?

Key Finding 1

Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside of the classroom.

(How People Learn, p 14.)

Key Finding 2

To develop competence in an area, students must:

a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,

b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and

c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology)

Key Finding 3

A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

Aside: metacognition

Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s

own cognitive processes or anything related to them.

For example, I am engaging

in metacognition if I notice

that I am having more

trouble learning A than B.

([3], [4])

Key Finding 3

Please break into groups of 3-4...

Each set of cards has

3 Key Findings

3 Implications for Teaching

3 Designing Classroom Environments

TASK: Sort your cards into 3 groups of 3 cards each by

matching the Implication for Teaching and Classroom

Environment to the Key Finding:

Implication

for Teaching

Key Finding 1

Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside of the classroom.

Implications for Teaching 1

Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.

New Coding System

Please memorize this code:

1 = 4 = 7 =

2 = 5 = 8 =

3 = 6 = 9 =

unsupported, unfamiliar content built on pre-existing

knowledge

(tic-tac-toe board)

Classroom Environments 1

Schools and classrooms must be learner centered. (How People Learn, p 23.)

Learning requires interaction [2]

% of class time

NOT lecturing

Learning gain:

pre-test 0

post-test

Key Finding 2

To develop competence in an area, students must:

a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,

b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and

c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge.

To provide a knowledge-centered environment, attention must be given to what is taught (information, subject matter), why it is taught (understanding), and what competence or mastery looks like.

Development of Mastery [3]

conscious

unconscious

incompetent competent

Level of Expertise

conscious

unconscious

adikko.deviantart.com

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

Why Your Students Don’t Understand You

Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:

lack rich, networked connections, cannot make

inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information

have preconceptions that distract or confuse

lack automization, resulting in cognitive overload

Key Finding 3

The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.

Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed to make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and students — are essential.

Instructors need to provide opportunities for

students to practice being metacognitive: an

internal dialogue about their own thinking

student-centered instruction traditional lecture

peer instruction with clickers

interactive demonstrations

surveys of opinions

reading quizzes

worksheets

discussions

videos

student-centered instruction

Clicker question

Melt chocolate over low heat. Remove the chocolate

from the heat. What will happen to the chocolate?

A) It will condense.

B) It will evaporate.

C) It will freeze.

(Question: Sujatha Raghu from Braincandy via LearningCatalytics)

(Image: CIM9926 by number657 on flickr CC)

Typical episode of peer instruction

Alternating with 10-15 minute mini-lectures,

1. Instructor poses a conceptually-challenging,

multiple-choice question.

2. Students think about question on their own.

3. Students vote for an answer using clickers,

smart phones, colored/ABCD voting cards,

Poll Everywhere,…

4. The instructor reacts, based on the

distribution of votes.

Typical “choreography”

1. Students think and answer on their own (“solo vote”)

2. Instructor says, “Interesting! Please turn to your neighbors

and convince them you’re right.” Walks around the

classroom, eavesdropping on conversations.

3. Students discuss question. As things quiet down, instructor

says, “I’ve heard some great discussions. Please vote

again.” (“group vote”)

4. Class-wide discussion, concluding with why the right

answer(s) is right and the wrong answers are wrong.

Depending on the solo vote distribution, agile instructors can

try other variations on 2 – 4.

In effective peer instruction

students teach each other while

they may still hold or remember

their novice preconceptions

students discuss the concepts in their

own (novice) language

the instructor finds out what the students know (and

don’t know) and reacts, building on their initial

understanding and preconceptions.

students learn

and practice

how to think,

communicate

like experts

Clicker Question

The molecules making up the dry mass of wood that

forms during the growth of a tree largely come from

A) sunlight.

B) the air.

C) the seed.

D) the soil.

Question credit: Bill Wood

Development of Mastery

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

Development of Mastery

conscious

unconscious

Level of Expertise

Veritasium (Derek Muller) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZb2_vcNTg

Active Learning in Discussion Sections

peer instruction with clickers, colored ABCD cards, ABCDE pdf on smartphones,…

1-Minute papers: What is most confusing right now?

Problem Solving in Groups

Provide scaffold/structure

Ask what steps would you take to solve problem (versus actually solving them)

Critique or “fix” sample work/problem

overhead slides, document cameras, board?

If there’s a skill expert biologists have (drawing, identifying structures in diagram, etc.) give students a worksheet which gives them practice doing it.

Student-centered instruction takes time

Five minutes of student-centered instruction every 15

minutes means 25% of class time is not lecturing. But you

(already) have lecture material to fill 100% of the time!

Where does that time come from?

Traditional classroom

1. Transfer: first exposure to material is in class,

content is transmitted from instructor to student

2. Assimilate: learning occurs later when student

struggles alone to complete homework, essay,

project

1. learn easy

stuff together 2. learn hard

stuff alone

(Mazur [6])

Flipped classroom

1. Transfer: student learns easy content at home:

definitions, basis skills, simple examples. Frees up

class time for...

2. Assimilate: students come to class prepared to

tackle challenging concepts in class, with immediate

feedback from peers, instructor

2. learn hard

stuff together 1. learn easy

stuff alone

(Mazur [6])

How People Learn

Learning is not about what the

instructor does. It’s about what

students do for themselves.

How People Learn

Students will not learn (just) by

listening to the instructor explain.

How People Learn

Students will not learn (just) by

listening to the instructor explain.

BE LESS HELPFUL How (You Can Help) People Learn (Biology)

If in doubt, ask yourself…

Who is doing the work,

you or the students?

References

1. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

2. Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4, 320-330.

3. Sprague, J., & Stuart, D. (2000). The speaker’s handbook. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers.

4. Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

5. Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about-metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].

6. Mazur, E. (2009). Farewell, Lecture? Science, 323, 5910, 50-51.

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

Peter Newbury, Ph.D.

Center for Teaching Development,

University of California, San Diego

pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca

ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd

April 29, 2013

slides and resources: tinyurl.com/HPLBiologySp13

how (you can help) people learn (biology)

people learnpeter newbury

patterns ofhow people

learning interests

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